WHY bother saving species from extinction? To committed conservationists the question may seem almost sacrilegious, but it is one to which we urgently need answers that will convince a wider audience. Unless the conservation movement can come up with some, it will fail in its goal of protecting the planet’s biodiversity.
The signs are not good. The World Conservation Union’s latest reveals that more than 16,000 are heading for extinction (see “Radical rethink required to save rare species”). Some, such as the Yangtze river dolphin, may be beyond recall (see “The baiji: So…
